Product Focus: desks
Marion Hudson
Kimball Evoke
Evoke combines the possibilities of wood, glass, and metal and has a distinctive floating top design. The clean look blends with a variety of office environments from transitional to contemporary, and Evoke was recently recognized with a Best of NeoCon award. Mobile pedestals fit under the desk, credenza, return, or bridge surfaces and provide flexibility. Project trays fit within a high-back organizer or below the worksurface when combined with the undersurface project shelf. Additional floor-level storage areas are also provided; storage cubbies are freestanding so they can be moved anywhere on the credenza worksurface; and the cantilever shelves keep papers organized.
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Grommets or power/data centers route cables and wires away from the worksurface, and a wire management system has a flexible covering below the worksurface to allow cords to enter and exit at any point. The wire system also provides cross-component cable routing. The retractable laptop platform easily swivels, tilts, rises, lowers, and stows away. The choices of cherry, maple, and walnut wood are available in 17 finishes and four edge details; and three metal pulls, doors, frames, and modesty panels are available in three finishes–matte black, platinum, and satin nickel. The overhead door panels can be of frosted glass, perforated metal, or wood. A full line of built-up units makes specification and installation easy, as do choices in heights for organizers and storage units. Visit www.kimballoffice.com for additional product information.
Kimball International
Reader Service No. 80
Steelcase Smoke, Reply, Translations
A highly mobile freestanding desk system that adapts to changing needs with style, the Turnstone Smoke glides on casters so the tables, mobile pedestals, and file units reconfigure easily. Locks are available as are translucent screens for use as privacy or modesty panels.
The Reply Desk features a peninsula worksurface, overhead storage, and a mobile cart and tower. The adaptable, comprehensive desk system allows reconfiguration in any office space–open or private–and Reply is designed to complement the Answer panel-based system.
Translations by Steelcase has an executive feel, and it’s available in a variety of finishes and styles. Elements in wood, metal, lacquer, stone, and glass offer beauty, crafts-manship, and flexibility. Features include vertical metal accents, modular pedestals and wall components, and lift-up conference tops. The components have mitered and rabbet joints throughout. For more views and product information, visit www.steelcase.com.
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Steelcase
Reader Service No. 81
SMED Skeena
SMED International has introduced the sustainable veneer of bamboo with its Skeena desk products line. The carbonization-steam process gives the bamboo a light coffee color–bamboo veneer only comes in natural and carbonized and is currently impossible to stain. Bamboo is a grass, not a wood, and is harvested five to eight years from sprouting, regenerates itself eternally, and grows in a fraction of the time compared to hardwoods. New shoots grow both day and night; some bamboos grow nearly a meter every 24 hours. These features make bamboo one of the most sustainable resources on the planet.
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Bamboo’s hardness is comparable to red oak, with the tensile strength of steel, and it’s milled in China using state-of-the-art technology to maintain the highest quality. Because of the combined efforts of associated industries, almost 100 percent of each log is used. Most of SMED’s furniture, movable walls, doors, and seating accessories, are now available in bamboo. The Skeena design enables power and data cables to run through to the desktop for a tidy, clean executive appearance.
The company also offers the bamboo veneer to furniture designers, who can choose bamboo as a sustainable aesthetic throughout the office. For more information about SMED and its products, visit www.smednet.com.
SMED International
Reader Service No. 82
Tiffany Talon
Talon, from the Mayline Group division of Tiffany Industries, combines standard features such as integrated mobility, on-demand height adjustability, and easy-folding operation into a desk and table system. Talon’s 16 stylish and functional surface shapes work together to create unlimited configurations, and desktop fabric screens and rolling panels ensure visual and territorial privacy boundaries in an open-plan setting. Mobile storage units and a desktop organizing system provide customized storage and move easily from station to station. Talon received a Best of NeoCon Silver Award for 2002, and you can get more views and details via the Website www.mayline.com.
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Mayline Group
Reader Service No. 83
Haworth Vancouver
A contemporary series of modular wood furniture, Vancouver is designed to give executives control of their personal work environment. The crescent-, arc-, and kidney-shaped desks support efficient workflow and in-office conferencing. Wraparound worksurfaces allow executives to organize important and often-needed items in a cockpit-like space, and the retractable, pivoting link-top allows the desk to expand and contract.
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Power and data access is integrated under the front edge of the desk to accommodate technology during in-office conferences, and the link-top provides an extra work area. Vancouver interfaces adeptly with a variety of technology tools, such as laptops and PDAs, providing several solutions for power and data access, such as off-modular power and data access using an extruded rail that allows power modules to slide along worksurfaces. For integration of Data Thing and PowerBase, Vancouver provides cabling access through shells, credenzas, and returns. There’s also vertical power and cable management through Vancouver’s metal legs
The line’s extensive collection of freestanding components includes desks, credenzas, shells, returns, and pedestal and lateral files. Storage options are available for overhead and under the worksurface as are storage cabinets and mobile accessories. The Vancouver line includes freestanding and panel-hung components that are dimensionally and aesthetically compatible with Haworth’s Places and Premise systems. Unique products like the lockable table/desk; the mobile return for portable storage; retractable pivot and link tops; standing-height desks; and mobile, curvilinear conferencing tables provide flexibility and personalization.
Vancouver’s aesthetic details include the Ambernet flexible modesty screen, glass overhead doors, two drawer-pull styles in brushed nickel and matte black, and a choice of arc or reed edge details. The line is available in two maple finishes, natural and sand, and three cherry finishes of amber, classic, and medium. For more information about Haworth products, call 800/344-2600 or visit www.haworth.com.
Haworth Inc.
Reader Service No. 84
Jofco Wellington, CaseWorks 2, TW Collection
The Wellington 8000 line is a traditional collection with classic finishes of walnut or oak veneer, decorative trim, and leather inlay desktops and a variety of desk sizes and shapes and built-in computer corners. The modular pieces make space planning easy, and the line can be ordered plain or luxuriously extravagant with glass or grille doors, decorative trim, and Georgian feet.
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CaseWorks 2, an extension of the CaseWorks collection, has modularity features to optimize office space, and the curved worksurfaces permit a small footprint. Two mobile tables hold materials like laptops and files, and the overhead storage units permit corner configurations. Tall storage units create another level of storage to maximize vertical office space, and the tall file/wardrobe units match the overhead storage units in height.
The TW Collection is part of an importing and distribution program with Italian manufacturer Frezza. It’s a mobile, modular desk system with elements for filing, storage, and technology accommodations and has three multipurpose table groups. Tables have functionally shaped tops in glass, wood, and laminate surface options and die cast aluminum legs in two finish choices. Corner depths accommodate computers and are useful for meetings. The collection includes modular meeting tables, mobile pedestals, mobile/stationary service cabinets, multipurpose storage cabinets, flexible privacy screens, and a technical bridge to integrate technology in a workgroup or meeting space. The service cabinets offer open storage, CPU management, and wire/cable management in a single case, and the technical bridge is designed for larger-scale technology.
Jofco International
Reader Service No. 85
Global Adaptabilities
The Adaptabilities product line from the Global Group has more than 370 mix-and-match components available in 169 color combinations ranging from rich mahogany to contemporary solids. Bow-front desks are complemented by cabinetry and credenza options with lots of detail choices. All surfaces are constructed from Global’s premium-grade, high-performance laminate and finished in 3mm-thick matching edges. The desk components are standard with full modesty panels, and three-quarter modesty panels are also available at no extra charge. Factory-installed metal-to-metal connectors make assembly and installation fast, easy, and problem-free. The connectors also allow unlimited reconfiguration.
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Among the many accessories available are a telephone support, CD holders, pencil holders, and file hangers. Electrical and data wiring is easily passed through the notched end panels, grommets, and flexible wire ways. All of the file cabinets have a safety mechanism to prevent two drawers from being opened at the same time, and the drawers have fully progressive ball bearing suspensions. The file cabinets accommodate letter, legal, and metric filing side-to-side or front-to-back. Sized in 6-inch increments, all Adaptabilities components enable space design to easily conform to office size. For groupings, the hutches and end shelves provide functional and attractive storage options while creating visual privacy. For boardroom and management applications, the line includes choices of serving carts, audiovisual cabinets, white boards, conference tables, and lecterns. For additional product information, visit www.globaltotaloffice.com.
Global Group
Reader Service No. 86
Allsteel Terrace Freestanding
The new Terrace Freestanding furniture from Allsteel is a flexible desking solution that allows users to create office workspaces to stand alone or integrate with the stylish Terrace line. The new components include 11 worksurface shapes, such as curved, bow-front, and P-shaped peninsula.
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Storage hutches with flat doors or radius doors can be wall-mounted, panel-mounted, or desk-mounted, with or without a tack board. Terrace Freestanding is available in 17 paint finishes, 25 laminates, and three veneers. For more information, visit www.allsteeloffice.com.
Allsteel
Reader Service No. 87
HON Park Avenue
The Park Avenue Collection Series Desk features a broad selection of models and accessories designed for luxury and utility. While complying with technology needs via integral cord management, the collection is available with hand-finished veneers, soft Italian leather, and a wide variety of other choices including three edge treatments, three drawer-pull styles, and three wood grain color stains. Both preconfigured and modular pieces provide a range of configurations, which can be personalized for individual needs and tastes. For more information and views of products, visit www.hon.com.
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The HON Co.
Reader Service No. 88
RELATED ARTICLE
In these days of cubicle jungles and telecommuting, some may consider a desk an illusive luxury. But in contrast to the workplace cubby, home offices are becoming more common, and consumers are demanding fine wood desks to blend with their fine wood home furnishings. Other home office owners prefer a clean, modern motif, and desk manufacturers have responded with new worksurface colors and materials, chrome, and polished aluminium. For this Product Focus, we’ve also looked at the matching pieces such as credenzas, book-shelves, and cabinets. Not only do they add to the overall furnished look of the office, but like the desks, the matching pieces have become more sophisticated in accommodating efficient storage and technology. Desk designers address ergonomic issues and office productivity with curves, circles, and u-shaped spaces. The matching pieces help carry out these concepts. Today’s desks and their companion pieces offer elegant finishes and details in harmony with mobility options, technology accommodations, and sensible, utilitarian needs to make home and executive office furnishings more attractive than ever.
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